


Fugaku-san, meet Shugā-kun.

by FictionalQuacker



Series: Flames of Peace: One-shots [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Fancy Tuna, Fluff, Gen, Growing up is hard but cats are soft, Humor, Kid Fic, Parenthood, PwP (Parenting with Patience), Slice of Life, Uchiha Fugaku-centric, Uchiha family, cat fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29886672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionalQuacker/pseuds/FictionalQuacker
Summary: One day, there is an intruder in the Uchiha household.
Relationships: Uchiha Fugaku & Uchiha Sasuke
Series: Flames of Peace: One-shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078838
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	Fugaku-san, meet Shugā-kun.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short and sweet little story with a "self-insert" of my cat. Very self-indulgent, painfully cute with my very best attempt at Sasuke and Itachi as realistic children. May have accidentally dived into feelings of fatherhood through Fugaku. Enjoy!

Out of all the missions he had taken on during his thirty-six years of life in the shinobi world, raising two boys had to be the most challenging yet.

The day Mikoto had informed him of the budding life in her belly for the first time, he thought he was ready for it, and Itachi had turned out to be an easy child to raise. Quiet, attentive, and incredibly quick to learn. When it had been time for him to become an older brother, Fugaku had already grown comfortable in the role of a parent, and did not expect much of a challenge from little Sasuke either.

Certainly, he was never so arrogant that he did not anticipate difficulties further down the line. It took a good two decades for a child to become grown after all, with plenty of potential obstacles along the way. In fact, Fugaku had taken the time to make a list of what he expected his sons to need his help with as they grew:

> _Coping with judgmental outsiders  
> _ _Fighting with other boys  
> _ _Girls  
> _ _Maintaining a proper work-ethic and discipline  
> _ _Mastering the sharingan  
> _ _Girls II (this time with more hormones)  
> _ _Picking a career  
> _ _Learning how to shave  
> _ _Girls III: The Final Frontier  
> _

  
Needless to clarify that this particular situation was not within his expectations.

Then again, all his family members did their fair share of surprising, impressing, and even moving Fugaku. The effect they could have and all they gave him through their sheer existence was profound in its simplicity, extraordinary in its mundanity.

And in this scenario, that all came from Sasuke.

“What are you doing?”

The spiky mess at the back of his son’s head stilled where it peeked out over the edge of his bed. Just four years old and still adapting to the move from sleeping in his mother’s arms to his own bed at night, Sasuke had slowly upped the playtime in his very own bedroom and seemed to finally be making himself at home.

Two huge, adorably concentrated black eyes appeared from behind the bed and stared curiously at him. “Father? Don’t come in!”

The rest of him remained out of sight, hidden by the furniture he was expected to grow into eventually. _Not a bad cover, I wonder if he was clever enough to consider the angle of the door,_ Fugaku thought of the guarded position.

Stopping just beyond the doorframe, Fugaku felt a touch of curiosity himself. Four was much too young to be sneaking around with anything less than innocent, and he respected that the child was already capable of setting boundaries. “Sasuke, what are you doing back there?” He repeated.

Sasuke glanced away, his small brow furrowing before he looked at his father again. “Nothing. Go away, please.”

 _Needs more practice on the verbal cover-ups, I see._ He thought, obediently taking one step back so he was outside of Sasuke’s room before he stopped and crossed his arms. “I can tell you’re hiding something. You won’t get in trouble, just tell me what you’re up to.”

He was not the savviest with reading others, but he could tell that Sasuke was hesitating. The sweet and expressive eyes of his child looked at him with an almost comical seriousness; like he was making a very important decision. “Promise you won’t get mad?” Came the tentative demand for assurance, and Fugaku made sure to nod firmly the way he did when his officers needed official confirmation or his expressed permission at the station.

The spiky head disappeared below the bedframe, and when his son stood up, he was carrying the last thing Fugaku had expected of him to be hiding in his newly acquired personal space.

A cat hung by the torso in Sasuke’s rough grip.

Both long and fat, the gray animal gave Fugaku a bewildered, wide-eyed stare before it opened its small maw and screamed in sheer displeasure at him.

* * *

  
The grown man stared, the four-year-old scowled, and the cat squirmed.

Truly, it was a wonder Sasuke had not a single scratch-mark on him. He held the animal up by its torso, his little hands wrapped too tightly around its ribs. The cat was stretched out towards the floor as a result: and even for a grown male it looked quite huge compared to Sasuke’s small frame.

Either the cat was a coward, or it was impressively mild tempered to allow such rough treatment without retaliation. Regardless, a more pressing question was why on earth it was in Sasuke’s room, let alone his arms.

“What are you doing with that cat?” Fugaku heard himself ask, trying to break through the stunned state his youngest had put him in while keeping composure.

Sasuke hoisted the cat slightly higher, earning another meek protest from the beast. The child still pouted, a shy tinge of pink touching his cheeks and something that looked like guilt came over his features. Fugaku found it much too familiar – reminiscent of the looks on civilians caught committing petty crime. Taking a slow breath, he felt a crushing wave of disappointment over his son’s probable misconduct. It hurt his heart as well as his pride to think of his own son misbehaving in such a way. He steeled himself and uncrossed his arms in preparation for coming up with a proportionate act of discipline.

“Sasuke, it is not allowed to take other peoples’ pets.” He said, “that cat belongs to someone. You have to give it back.”

“No!” Sasuke protested immediately. His eyes narrowed angrily, the furrow of his brow tightening suddenly. Fugaku blinked at the impolite tone of it, and Sasuke’s eyes widened before he lowered his head shyly. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t yell.”

Fugaku sighed, watching his child and giving him a moment to explain himself.

Hugging the greatly uncomfortable cat against his chest, Sasuke stared intently down at the floor rather than facing his father when he said: “He doesn’t belong to anyone, Teyaki-san at the senbei shop told me so. He said Shugā lives in the forest behind the Naka Shrine.” Sasuke shot a quick look up at his father, before looking away again. “I found him. He’s got bug bites all over and his fur is all messy.”

Figuring that the order to ‘go away’ was forgotten at this point, Fugaku stepped inside the room and sat on the floor to be more level with his child. When he approached, fear came over the cat and he feebly tried to push himself out of Sasuke’s arms. A dirty paw pressed against the child’s bare arm and long claws dug into the skin, but Sasuke did not budge. Fugaku caught the child’s eyes and did his best to sound both firm and fair. “It is still not your cat. If he’s wild then he has no business being in the house. You will return him to his home where he belongs.”

“But he doesn’t have a home!” Sasuke objected bravely, his shyness giving way for stubbornness. “He doesn’t have a family so he’s all alone – that’s too unfair!” The cat made another attempt at escaping when Sasuke raised his voice, kicking and squirming more wildly, but Sasuke did not seem to notice. He continued, clearly upset. “You said it’s our job to take care of the clan! Why can’t I help him? It’s not right to let an Uchiha be homeless just because he’s a cat!”

Despite himself, Fugaku came dangerously close to smiling. Sasuke held the cat so tightly, and his large black eyes shone with a fierce determination he could not help but respect in someone so young.

He supposed there technically was no rule stating that Uchiha had to be human, and he did like to see his sons stand their ground. _Perhaps this is the opportunity for a lesson,_ he thought. _If this is his sense of justice and good of the clan then it might do him good to encourage it._

So Fugaku considered the demand for permission to help this unofficial clansman of theirs. “And how do you intend to help him? Do you have a plan?” He asked with his best serious face.

Sasuke steeled himself, his eyes shining as he did. “I’ll take care of him, I promise! He’ll be very good and live in my room!”

Fugaku waited, but it seemed Sasuke was quite done. He stood up and gave a court nod. “You seem certain, so I’ll allow it.” Looking behind him, he still had to make an effort not to break face and show the great amusement he felt. “This is your mission, Sasuke. You will feed him, brush him and clean up after him. It is a very important mission so you cannot get tired and back out of it – do you understand?”

His sweet, round face lit up like the world’s smallest sun. A pang of fatherly affection hit Fugaku like a hammer.

“I will! Leave it to me!” Sasuke proclaimed, squeezing the cat in his arms. It cried out unhappily.

Fugaku huffed. “You said his name was Shugā? Well, he doesn’t like being held like that. Put him down.”

Obediently, Sasuke promptly dropped the cat who immediately ran to hide underneath his little coffee-table. The fat cat stared at the two humans with great, green eyes and his tail waving above his butt.

Fugaku went to the door, gesturing for his son to follow. “Come on now. You’ll need to go buy him some food and a litterbox.”

Grinning widely, Sasuke ran after his father and when their eyes met again, his sweet face shone with joyful admiration.

Fugaku had to consider reviewing what his sons might need from him, as surely he should be open to adjustments as the surprises come.

Despite every challenge, this mission was the most rewarding Fugaku had ever taken. He wished it would never be completed in full; or at least that he would never reach the end of that list.


End file.
